Electric signaling device.



PATENTBD JULY 3, 1906.

P. KENNEDY.

ELECTRIC SIGNALING DEVICE.

APPLICATION FILED OGT.13, 1904. RENEWED DBO. 15,1905.

2 SHEETSSHEET 1.

PATENTED JULY 3, 1906.

2 SHEBTSSHEET Z.

witnesses PATRICK KENNEDY, NEW YORK, N. Y.

ELECTRIC SIGNALING DEVICE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented July 3, 1906.

Application filed October 13, 1904, Renewed December 15. 1905. Serial No. 291,851.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, PATRICK KENNEDY, a citizen of the United States, residing in the borough of Brooklyn, in the county of Kings, in the city and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Electric Signaling Devices, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to the general class of automatic signaling devices or instruments employing electricity as a means of transmission, of which fire-alarm signal-transmitters are types, and it is herein illustrated as embodied in a fire-alarm signaling device of the non-interfering kind or type. It may be briefly stated here that inthe installation of a system of non-interfering fire-alarm signal transmitters or boxes these latter are placed in the same electric circuit and so arranged that an alarm-signal may be sent from any signalbox to a central station, and in order that they may not interfere should an attempt be made to send a plurality of signals at the same time the o eration of sending a signal from one box wili disable all the others from sending a signal for the'time being. In all of these systems, so far as I am aware, the operator or person wishing to send the signal must himself set the mechanism in motion, and if his box is disabled by some other box already in operation his efl'orts willbe to no purpose. I he wishes to send a signal, he must wait until the line is clear and then repeat the operation.

According to the present invention, which is herein shown as operating on a closed circuit, the person purposing to send a signal merely presses a button or performs some equivalent operation which opens a circuit. The button when pressed in is locked or held by a detent in the position set by the pres sure and the operator may go away, leaving the mechanism to take care of the sending of the signal. If there is no other signal being sent by any other transmitting instrument in the system, the instrument so set by the pressure on the button will send in its signal in due time. On the other hand, if any number of signals are being already sent in from other instruments in the system the box set as above will in its turn automatically send in its signal. posed that there are ten signal-transmitting instruments in the system, and these are so adjusted, as will be hereinafter explained, that they may be numbered from 1 to To illustrate this, let it be sup- V circuit.

10 and that the buttons of all of these ten instruments are pressed at the same instant. In this case No. 1 will first send in its signal, then No. 2, then No. 3, and so on to No. 10, and this will be'effected automatically and without any after manipulation by the senders. The signals may from first to last be sent, say, some minutes apart; but they will all be sent in proper order.

To rovide an instrument which will accomplish the above result is the object of the present invention, and one embodiment of the invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein Figure '1 is a somewhat diagrammatic view showing the mechanism of the transmitter substantially in front elevation in its box. Fig. 2 is a plan of the mechanism, the box be ing in horizontal section. Fig. 3 is-a side view of the mechanism as seen from the left in Figs. 1 and 2, the box being in section. Fig. 4 is a diagrammatic view showing how a plurality of the transmitters are connected in Fig. 5 is an illustrative detail view of the splined stem of the push-button and attached parts.

Before proceeding to describe the particular features of the instrument in which the present invention resides, it may be exlained that this instrument in the form herein illustrated employs a number of instrumentalities which are common in this class of devicesnamely, a break contact wheel, clock mechanism fordriving'said wheel, a detent device which holds said driving mechanism from operating, an electromagnet for releasing the mechanism,and perhaps other minor features; but the invention is not limited to any special means for winding the op erative mechanism nor indeed to any special kind of such mechanism.

As herein shown, the instrument is in a closed circuit, and the results are produced by breaks in this circuit. Y In the principal views, A designates an inclosing box, of which E. is the door and C an inner partition or front, which may also have a door to afford access to the instrument inside.

D designates the usual break contact wheel, driven by an ordinary clock mechanwhich has in it a notch or recess a to be en to the magnet.

. employed.

a may be explained, premising that other degaged by a pin or stud d on a detent-lever G, I so as to hold the driving mechanism against movement, and this lever is adapted to be lifted by an electromagnet H. These features in some form have been before used in this class of instruments.

The line wires entering the box A are designated by \V and W. 7 The current entering by W under normal conditions when no signal is being sent goes to the binding- )ost of the brush e of the break-contact whee D, thence by wire w to a contact f on the lever G, thence to a spring-contact g, thence through wires w, w and 20 to the button-closure, (71 in Fig. 1,) and thence by wire w to the line-wire W. This provides a short circuit which cuts or shunts out the electromagnet II and renders it inactive. Let us now suppose that the circuit is broken at the buttonclosure h. The current entering by the line \Y then flows to the magnet by wires w, w, and w'-, through the coils of the magnet, and thence by a wire w" to the 'wire W. Thus the magnet is excited, and through means hereinafter explained lifts the lever G until the stud (Z is free from the recess c, and allows the driving mechanism to set the break-contact wheel D in motion; but the instant the lever G is lifted ever so little the circuit is broken at the contacts f and g, and the current must then flow through the brush I to wheel I), thence through brush 0 to its binding-post, and thence by wires w and w The wheel D now becomes a circuit-breaker, and the current will be broken whenever the brushes pass off a tooth thereof.

The general features being now understood the means for breaking the shunt-circuit at h vices the equivalents of that shown may be A push-button I with a stem 11 appears in front of the partition C, and it is on y necessaryfor the erson wishing to send a signal to press or pus 1 in this button. The stem of the button, Fig. 3, lays in a tubular guide on the back wall of t 1e box, and when pressed in it compresses a spring is in this guide. Fixed on the stem of the button, Fig. 2, is a contact-piece m, which is held normally in cont act with terminals n n of the wires and w of the shunt-circuit of the magnet by the spring It, thus providing the button-closureh. (Indicateddiagrammatic-' allyin Fig. 1.) Also on the stem of the button is mounted a rocking cross-bar 0, one arm 0 of which is adapted to take under the detent-leverG when the button is ressed in and form an interposing piece. 1e other arm of-the cross-bar cari'les a pivoted latch-detent p. which when the button I is ushed in wi )es under the detent-lever G an engages behind the latter, so as to'prevent the return of the button by its spring 76 until the lever g is lifted high enough to free the upright arm bar 0 at the angle formed by the two arms of I the detent.

The armature of the magnet H is carried by a lever J, whic i is fulcrumed or pivoted at wand on the boss of the lever J is a pendent arm K, provided with a screw .9, so disposed as to take under the piece 0 when the button I is pressed in. The function of the arm K is to lift the detent-lever G, and the function of the screw 8 therein is to enable the impinging oint of the lifting to be so varied in the diffiarent instruments in the system that each will begin to lift when the armature shall have reached a predetermined point infits movement toward the poles of the magnet.

It may be explained here that the stem of the button 1 plays slidably through a bearing in a bracket C on the Wall of the box and that there is ,a spline or feather i on the stem, which engages a groove in the bracket to prevent the stem from rotating. The cross-bar 0 rocks on the stem; but the spline on the latter engages a recess in the bar and limits the extent of the rocking movement. When the button I is in its normal protruded position, the screw 3, which is not directly under the lever G, may rise without lifting the latter; but when the button is pressed init carries the bar 0 with it and moves the end 0 of the latter under the lever G, so that when the screw 8 impinges on the inter osed piece 0 the latter serves as an interme iary to lift the detent-lever. The end 0 of the bar 0 being the heavier the bar assumes its normal posi tion by gravity; but obviously its return to its normal position may be assured by any known means.

- Fixed on the armature-lever is a curved rack t, which, gears with a wheel 'u and rotates the same when the armature movesto and fro. Through intermediate gear-Wheels 'v v the wheel it drives a ratcheted escapementwheel a; when the armature movestoward the poles of the magnet, thus providing a retarding device for the movement of the armature; butwhen the armature falls back the ratcheting of the escapementcuts it out and this-backward movement is not retarded.

The operation of the device is as follows: If any one wishes to send in an alarm, he opens the door of the box and pushes in the button I. This sets the parts in position to operate,

and the button islocked when pushed in.

Now if this is the only box in the system from which a signal is being sent the pressin in of the button allows the current to ow through the magnet and the signal will be automatically transmitted in due course; but should some other instrumentsay 2-in the system be in operation sending a signal when the button Iof an instrumentsay 3is ITO ' have finished sending its signal.

pressed, the instrument 3 will transmit its signal, but not until the instrument 2 shall The reason for this is that the movement-of the armature of the magnet of instrument 3 is retarded so as to move slowly, and before it has an opportunity to lift the detent-lever G high enough to setfree the drivin mechanism the wheel D of instrument 2 wi break the circuit and allow the armature of instrument 3 to fall back. Thus while the instrument 2 is in op eration the armature of the instrument 3' will oscillatethat is, move' slowly toward the poles of the ma net and then fall back quic 1y; but it wil never move up near enough to the poles of the magnet to set the driving mechanism in operation or release the button I while instrument 2 is operating. As soon, however, as instrument 2 completes its signal and the wheel D thereof stops, with the brushes e e resting on a tooth, instrument 3 will proceed automatically and transmit its signalthat is to say, the armature q of its magnet will moveup near enough to thepoles of the magnet H to cause the screw 8 in the arm K to imlpinge' on the intrposing piece 0 of the crossar 0, and through it lift the detent-lever G far enough to set free the disk F, thus setting the wheel D in motion. As the lever G drops back at each break in the circuit at D the stud (1 falls on the edge of the disk F and rests there until the latter shall have made a complete-rotation, when it will fall into the notch cand stop the drivin mechanism. The wheel D will be so geare as to stop with the brushes e e resting on one of the teeth thereof, as seen in Fig. 1, so as to maintain'the circuit unbroken at that point.

In order that the several transmitting instruments'may be so adjusted as to come into action successively in case two or more of them should be set for operation simultaneously, the screw 8 or some similar device is emp oyed. The object is to adjust the instrument in such a manner that when the electromagnets H are excited in all of them simultaneousl the detent-lever G of No. 1 will start to rise first, then No. 2, and so on through them all. If the instruments areall constructed alike, the screw 8 will be found a simple and convenient means for bringing about this successive operation; but many other ways of eflecting the object will occur to those skilled in the art.

In the diagram, Fig. 4, Nos.- 1, 2, and 3 designate several signal transmitting instruments in the closetl line-circuit and supplied by a battery or generator M, which may be at a central point or station L, where the receiving instrument is located. The instrument N o. 1 is represented as sending a signal, the shunt about the magnet H bein broken at h. The current entering at flows through the coils of the magnet and thence by a wire w to the brush a, thence through the break-contact wheel to the brush e, and thence out through line-wire W. The shunt about the break-contact device is broken in No. 1 at f by the lifting of the detent-lever G. In the case of the instruments No. 2 and No. 3 the shunts about the magnet H and the break-contact device are closed, and in these instruments the current enters at line-wire W, flows by Way of wires w w 10*, and w to f, and thence by w to the outgoing line-wire W. In Fig. 4 the disposal of the conductingwires is slightly different from that shown in the principal views; but this is only for convenience in diagrammatic illustration. Obviously it is not important just how the wires are strung in the mstrument so longas the closed circuit is maintained and shunts are provided, as described.

It will be noted that this invention provides an instrument having in addition to its non-interfering characteristics some manually-operative means, asthe button I, for example, for'putting the mechanism of the instrument in a potentially operative condition, whereby whenever the linebecomes receptive, or is in condition to receive a signal from this instrument, such signal will be sent; but the manually-operative means does not in itself set the mechanism of the instrument in o eration. It merely puts it in such a con ition that it may and will operate wherever the line is receptive. This result is attained through the retardation of the mechanism, aided under some conditions by the re ulation for successive operation.

aving thus described my invention, I claim 13 An electric signaling instrument, having mechanism for transmitting a signal, means for setting said transmitting mechanism in operation only when the line-circuit is receptive of the signal, an electromagnet which controls said means, a shunt about said electromagnet which cuts it out, normally, from the line-circuit, means for retarding the effective operations of said electromagnet until the line-circuit shall be receptive'to the signal, manually-operatable means for breaking said shunt about the electromagnet when a signal is to be sent and putting the latter in otentially operative condition, and means or holding said shunt open until the transmitting means has been set in motion.

, 2. An electric signaling instrument, having mechanism for transmitting a signal, an electromagnet, means controlled by the said electromagnet for setting said transmitting means in operation only when the line-circuit is receptive of the signal, automatic means for retarding the o erations of said electromagnet, means by w ich the said electromagnet is normally cut out from the linecircuit, manuall -operatab1e means for closing the circuit t rough the coils ofsaid electromagnet, and means for holding said'electromagnet in such potentially operative condition until the signal transmitting mechanism has been set in operation.

3. An electric signaling instrument, having mechanism fortransmitting a. signal, means for setting said mechanism in operation only when the line-circuit is clear to receive the signal, an electromagnet which operatively controls said means, means by which said electromagnet is normally cut out from the line-circuit, manually-operatable means for closing the circuit through the coils of said electroma net when a signal is to be sent, means for holding said electromagnet in such potentially operative condition until the signal-transmitting mechanism has been set in operation, and means for retarding the ar- 3 mature of said electromagnet.

4. An electric signaling instrument, having mechanism for transmitting a signal, wh.ch includes a break-contact device, a shunt about said device which shunts it normally out of linecircuit, an electromagnet which controls said transmitting mechanism and said shunt and sets the said mechanism in motion only when the line is clear to receive the signal, a shunt about said electromagnet which normally shunts it out from the linecircuit, manually-operative means for breaking the shunt about said magnet when a signal is to be sent, means for maintaining the break in said shunt until the magnet shall have set the transmitting mechanism in op eration and shall have broken thereby the shunt about the breakcontact device, means for preventing the magnet from setting the transmitting mechanism in motion until'the line is clear to receive the signal,and means for maintaining the break inthe shunt about the break-contact device until the signal shall have been sent.v

5. An electric signaling-device, having a mechanically-operated circuit closer and breaker for signaling, mechanism for operating said circuit closer and breaker, a detent which arrests the operation of said. mechanism, an electromagnet and its armature, means between said armature and said arresting-detent for setting the mechanism in operation when the electromagnet is excited, means for retarding the movements of the armature toward the poles of the magnet, a circuit for exciting the magnet, a shunt about the magnet which cuts it out normally, manually-operatable means for breaking said shunt when a signal is to be sent, means for holding said shunt open until the driving mechanism is set in operation, a normally circuit closer and breaker, and automatic means for breaking this shunt when the I mechanism is set in operation.

6. An el ectric signaling device, having a break-contact wheel, brushes for said wheel in the line-circuit, mechanism for driving said i wheel, detent means for arresting the movement of said driving mechanism, a shunt about said brushes which cuts them out, normally, from the line-circuit, means which 1' breaks said shunt when'the detent device is 1 moved to free the driving mechanism, an electromagnet in the line-circuit, the armature of said magnet, means which retards the 5 movement of the armature toward the poles of the magnet, means between the armatuile and the detent which arrests the driving I closed shunt about the signal-transmitting l lease the driving mechanism, a shunt about the electromagnet which normally cuts it out from the line-circuit, a manually-operatable button for breaking said shunt and allowing the-current to flow through the magnet, and means for holding said shunt open until the driving mechanism shall have been set in motion.

i 7. An electric signaling device, having a mechanically-operated circuit closer and breaker for signaling, mechanism for operating this circuit closer and breaker, a detent which arrests the operation of said mechanism, an clectromagnet and its armature, means for retarding the movement of said armature toward the poles of the magnet, a learm K, for lifting said lever to free the driving mechanism, said arm being actuated by the armature in its movements, a button I, a spring which presses said button outward yieldingly, an interposin piece carried by the button to connect the ever G and arm K operatively when the button is pushed in, a latch forlocking the button when it is pressed in, said latch being freed by the lever G when i the latter is lifted, a shunt about the electro magnet. for cutting it out of the line-circuit, and a circuit-breaker actuated by the button I for breaking said shunt when the button is pressed in.

In witness whereof I have hereunto signed l the presence of two su scribing witnesses.

PATRICK KENNEDY.

Witnesses:

HENRY CONNETT, V ILLJAM J. FIRTH.

mechanism, for operating said detent to rever G carrying the said arresting-detent, an

my name, this 12th da ofOctober, 1904i, in 

